Raspberry Date Coulis

Raspberries are very fragile things. When you are fortunate enough to bring home a flat or two of fresh-picked raspberries, you will inevitably be left with a fair number of berries that are no longer holding their shape. They aren’t really pretty enough to use in a salad, but they taste great and it would be a shame to waste them. What to do? Make a coulis of course!

(What’s a coulis? That’s just a fancy term for a strained puree.)

Traditional raspberry coulis recipes contain just raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. I’ve swapped out sugar for whole dates to up the nutrition and added some optional vanilla and almond extracts for flavor. This sauce takes just a moment to make, requires no cooking, and freezes well.

Use raspberry coulis over fruit (peaches, pears and mangoes are especially good), in smoothies or as a salad dressing. It makes a great topping for my black and  blue bars too.

Raspberry Date Coulis

2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
4 medjool dates, roughly chopped* (+/- depending upon the sweetness of your berries)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract, optional
1/4 tsp almond extract, optional
cinnamon to taste, optional

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust flavorings and/or sweetness. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.

* If you don’t have any dates on hand, you can substitute agave. I’d start with 1 Tbsp of agave and add more until you reach the desired level of sweetness.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freeze.

Hint: freeze coulis in ice cube trays for 24 hours, then transfer cubes to freezer bags. When you find yourself wanting some raspberry coulis, just pull out the number of cubes you need. This trick works great for pesto and other freezable sauces as well.

Black Beans in Mango Lime Sauce

Mangos are in season right now - and even though I know they aren’t exactly locally grown - I couldn’t resist grabbing a flat of them at Costco the other day. Ever since, I’ve been looking for excuses to use them. This recipe is my favorite so far.

Some time, some where, I had a black bean mango dish I really liked. When I went searching for a similar recipe, the best looking one I found was from the Moosewood cookbook series. I had the pleasure of eating in the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York while on a business trip last year, so I knew this recipe would have potential.

Already vegan, this recipe was a snap to adapt to the Eat to Live guidelines. All I had to do was drop the salt and oil originally called for. We didn’t miss them at all. I made a few other minor changes to adjust to our taste (more garlic!) and to account for ingredients on hand (no jalapeno!).

This dish goes together quickly, so it deserves a place in the weekday rotation - at least as long as the mangos last. We served with quinoa and beet greens from today’s CSA box. Perfect!

Serves 6

2 c. red onion, minced, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp dried red chile flakes
6 c. cooked black beans
6 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 large ripe mangos, the riper the better
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
fresh chopped cilantro, to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add 1 3/4 c. red onions to pan with garlic, ginger, cumin, and chili flakes. Add a few drops of water as necessary to keep them from sticking. Water-saute for 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Add beans and 3 Tbsp of lime juice to the pan. Stir until beans are heated through, about another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in remaining lime juice, about 2/3 of the mango and fresh ground pepper. Let the finished dish sit covered for 15 minutes to allow the sauce to develop.*

Serve garnished with the reserved red onions, reserved mango and cilantro.

*We were impatient and skipped that part, but it was still great. Speaking of impatience, the finished dish was much prettier with the reserved garnishes on top, but it was so good that we ate the garnished versions before I remembered to photograph them!

Fruit Nut Hot Cereal

This easy breakfast is one of my husband’s weekend favorites. I got the basic idea from Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Eat For Health. I’ve made a few simple modifications, the most significant of which is that I use whole grain barley flakes instead of oatmeal. I like the flavor and texture of barley, not to mention it’s excellent nutritional profile and low glycemic index. You can find barley flakes in the bulk section of health food stores and better grocery stores (it looks just like oatmeal, so be sure to mark your package).

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Black and Blue Bars

I’ve been tinkering with these dense-moist-chocolately-but-good-for-you treats for months. I think they are finally ready for prime time. Actually, I’ve been in love with these for quite some time, but I’ve only just recently gotten them to where they taste good to the standard American diet eaters in my life too. They make a perfect dessert topped with fresh berries and are a convenient grab and go snack when you have to be on the run.

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